Love Won't Let You Get Away
by sethfanfiction
Summary: When Olivia Bellamy first saw Seth MacFarlane, she couldn't imagine the impact he would come to have on her life...
1. Chapter 1

Being momentarily blinded by the bright flash of a camera was a sensation that Olivia Bellamy had grown accustomed to. The prospect of dozens or even hundreds of shouting photographers and reporters didn't seem as daunting as it had just a couple of years earlier.

"Olivia! Olivia! Over here, Olivia! Olivia! Over here! Over the shoulder! Olivia!"

Olivia worked herself along the red carpet with expertise. She gracefully posed for the photographers while always keeping a smile on her face. As Olivia approached the very end of the red carpet, her publicist, Emma Jones, gently grabbed her hand and guided her towards a television reporter.

"One last interview before you head inside," Emma stated quietly.

"Okay," Olivia nodded.

Once they had reached their destination, Olivia greeted the reporter, Felicity Adams, whom she had met many times before at similar events.

"When you walked the red carpet here at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party two years ago, you had just become the youngest Best Actress winner in history for your beautiful performance in the incredible movie _Violet Sky_. How does that night compare to this one?" Felicity asked.

"This one is so much better," Olivia answered without hesitation.

"Is that so?" Felicity inquired.

"Yes, because tonight I haven't had to worry about the possibility of having to speak in front of millions of people. Plus, I'm old enough to drink here in America now so I can just get completely wasted tonight if I feel like it," Olivia explained with a twinkle in her eye which made the reporter laugh.

"Tonight is basically a night with less stress and more booze than two years ago," Olivia stated before giggling lightly. "But I still get to wear a pretty dress so it really is the best of both worlds."

"What's next for you in your career?" Felicity asked.

"I'll be going to Minnesota in a few weeks to shoot an independent film there," Olivia replied. "But first we're about to finish the filming of the _Mountains of Fire_ sequel which will be released later this year. And I'm also doing some work in television, but after that I don't have any definite plans."

"You're taking it one day at a time?" Felicity asked smiling.

"Yeah, I think that's best way for me to do it right now," Olivia said.

"We'll be looking forward to seeing you on the screen again soon," Felicity said as she ended the interview. "Thank you so much for your time."

"Thank you," Olivia smiled and began walking to leave the red carpet.

"Olivia! Olivia! Olivia! Give us a smile! Olivia! A quick smile!" the photographers shouted.

Olivia posed for the photographers a final time before she entered the party with Emma by her side. The two were immediately surrounded by a crowd of people who wanted to chat with Olivia.

"Olivia! Emma!"

Olivia looked around to find where the voice, which she knew belonged to her personal assistant Nicholas Potter, was coming from. She eventually saw him waving his arms over his head at a table further inside the room. Sitting by his side was Olivia's best friend, Jessica Watson, who had been completely enamored with Nicholas since she first laid her eyes on him.

"I think I should go and save Nick. Are you going to be alright on your own?" Emma questioned.

"I'll be fine," Olivia smiled. "Go and have some fun, Emma! I'll see you in a little bit."

Olivia continued to mingle cheerfully and confidently until she was overcome by the feeling that someone behind her was staring at her. She glanced over her shoulder and instantly found that a dark-haired man was watching her from across the room. Olivia couldn't believe how handsome he looked.

Once the dark-haired man realized that he had been caught looking at Olivia, he quickly flashed a smile at her. Olivia's heart sank as the man turned his attention to the beautiful woman he seemed to be in the middle of a conversation with. Olivia quietly scolded herself for even hoping that a man like him would take notice of her.

"We've got so much to talk about," Claire Danes smiled.

"Yes. Let's have lunch together and chat," Olivia suggested as she turned her attention away from the dark-haired man.

Olivia genuinely adored Claire. She had been one of Olivia's co-stars in _Violet Sky_ and the two had kept in touch regularly ever since.

"That would be lovely! I'm free on Wednesday; would that be good for you?" Claire asked.

"Wednesday is perfect," Olivia smiled. "Oh, we'll have so much fun!"

"I'm really looking forward to it," Claire replied as her publicist whispered something in her ear. "Listen, I'll call you tomorrow so we can organize everything. I really have missed you."

"I've missed you too," Olivia admitted as she and Claire kissed each other's cheeks goodbye.

"I'll see you soon, darling," Claire smiled as they parted.

Olivia continued mingling through the room and was happy to see Jennifer Westfeldt.

"Jennifer, you look incredible!" Olivia exclaimed as they hugged. "That dress is absolutely gorgeous!"

"Yours is stunning too," Jennifer genuinely smiled. "Who designed it?"

"Monique Lhuillier," Olivia answered.

Their imminent girl talk about all the different gowns they had seen during the night was hindered when Jennifer's boyfriend Jon Hamm came over to greet Olivia.

"Look at you, Ms. Olivia," he smiled. "You look very beautiful tonight."

"You look very dapper yourself, Mr. Hamm," Olivia giggled.

Olivia sensed that someone was watching her again and began looking around the room to see if her suspicion was in fact true. To her surprise she met the eyes of the same dark-haired, handsome man as before. Once again the man smiled as soon as he realized that he had been caught staring.

"You're coming to the birthday party we're having for Jon, right?" Jennifer questioned.

"Of course," Olivia smiled as she turned back to Jennifer and Jon. "I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

"Perfect!" Jennifer exclaimed.

"Olivia! Olivia!" Nicholas shouted across the room again.

"Hey Nick!" Jon called as Jennifer waved to him.

"Jon!" Nicholas called back. "Your woman is looking mighty _fine_ tonight!"

"Are you absolutely sure that he's gay?" Jon questioned as he turned back to Olivia.

"Unquestionably gay," Olivia replied with a smile.

"Good," Jon replied while lightheartedly faking relief. "Otherwise I fear that he might try to steal my woman away."

Jennifer just giggled and lovingly said, "He wouldn't even have a chance, Jon."

The couple shared a quick kiss which made Olivia smile.

"I should probably go and join him. He's been calling for me ever since I got here," Olivia explained apologetically.

"He probably needs you to save him from Jessie," Jon said, only half-jokingly.

"We'll see you in a few weeks," Jennifer smiled and hugged Olivia.

"Have a good night, sweetie," Jon said and did the same.

As Olivia was making her way to Nicholas, the dark-haired man appeared in her thoughts. Her eyes discreetly scanned the room in search of him. But when Olivia found him this time, he was no longer looking at her. She wondered why he had watched her so intently earlier. Was there something wrong with the way she looked?

"Do I look okay?" Olivia asked as soon as she reached the table.

"You're a vision, Liv," Nicholas replied sincerely.

"Am I?" she questioned as she sat down.

"You're absolutely beautiful, Olivia," Emma confirmed as she handed her a drink. "Why do you ask?"

"I just feel a little bit strange," Olivia replied. "That's all."

Olivia gave in to her yearning to look at the dark-haired man again and quickly found him laughing in a conversation with a small group of people. As she studied him from afar, Olivia tried to remember if she had ever found a man to be so gorgeous.

Olivia was just about to float into her daydreams when she realized that it was now her turn to be caught staring. The dark-haired man looked her straight in the eyes and smiled warmly.

Olivia suddenly felt dizzy as hundreds of butterflies now seemed to flutter around in her stomach. She forced herself to quickly look down into her drink to pretend like nothing had happened. She could feel her blood burning her cheeks as she began to blush.

"Should we head to Elton's party now?" Nicholas asked.

"Yes, let's go and hang out with some British people," Emma agreed.

"British guys truly are the best," Jessica sighed as she gazed at Nicholas.

Olivia couldn't keep her eyes away from the dark-haired man any longer. She looked up to where he had been standing before and saw that he was still looking at her. As their eyes met this time, however, Olivia didn't look away. She contemplated the possibility that the dark-haired man could have been looking at her the entire time.

"What do you say, Liv?" Nicholas asked, while trying to move away from Jessica as tastefully as possible.

"What do I say about what?" Olivia replied and quickly looked at Nicholas.

"Do you want to go to Elton's party or not?" Nicholas asked.

Olivia hesitated and met the eyes of the dark-haired man again.

"_Well_?" Jessica asked sounding a little conceited.

"Yes, let's go," Olivia answered before quickly finishing her drink.

As Olivia walked behind her friends on their way out of the party she let her eyes wander over to the dark-haired man one last time. He gave her a nod which she acknowledged with a shy smile. This caused the dark-haired man to break into the most beautiful smile that Olivia had ever seen.

Olivia followed her friends and internally tried to make peace with the fact that she would never get to see the dark-haired man again. Meanwhile the dark-haired man internally tried to make peace with the fact that the looks he had exchanged with the young Olivia Bellamy had meant nothing to her.

At that moment neither Olivia, nor the dark-haired man, could ever imagine the impact they would come to have on each other's life.


	2. Chapter 2

The shrill sound of an alarm clock quickly woke Olivia up from her sleep. She hurried to turn it off before laying her head back against her pillow.

"I'll get up now," Olivia thought to herself as she stretched her arms above her head.

It wasn't until Olivia heard the slam of the door to her hotel room that she realized that she had gone back to sleep, instead of getting up. Her eyes remained closed tightly as Olivia decided that she didn't feel like getting up today.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," Nicholas gently spoke as he carefully patted her feet with one of his hands.

Olivia faked a light snore before mumbling something as if she was talking in her sleep.

"One would think that such an acclaimed actress would be better at pretending to sleep," Nicholas mocked.

"I am _not_ getting up at this _ungodly_ hour!" Olivia snapped.

"Get up, Olivia!" Nicholas demanded. "You're already behind schedule. Stop acting like a child!"

"But I am a child!" Olivia whined.

"You're not a child anymore. You are 21 years old," Nicholas stated.

Olivia figured that if she ignored Nicholas long enough, he'd leave her alone.

"You leave me no choice, then," Nicholas said calmly.

"Yes! It worked!" Olivia thought happily as she heard Nicholas walking away from her bed.

"I hope you know that we wouldn't have had to do it this way if you would have been willing to cooperate," Nicholas stated.

Olivia groaned loudly and scrunched her face up as the room's far too bright lights were turned on.

"Now get up!" Nicholas demanded.

"But the sun isn't even up yet," Olivia pouted as she sat up in her bed.

"Come on now, Liv," Nicholas said. "You don't have much time before you have to be in the make-up trailer. Go and take a shower. You'll feel better."

"_Why_ _on earth_ do I even work as an actress?" she questioned herself out loud.

"The money, Olivia," he replied jokingly and laughed. "You do it for all of the money."

"Surely, there must be a better way to earn a lot of money?" Olivia questioned as she got up and walked into the bathroom, leaving the door open behind her.

"Well, you could always marry an extremely rich guy," he suggested.

"No, that would never work, Nick," Olivia laughed as she looked at herself in the mirror.

"Why not?" Nicholas questioned with a smile on his face.

"I would never even want to marry a rich guy. So an _extremely_ rich guy is clearly out of the question. He would undoubtedly be very vainglorious because of his fortune. And I happen to dislike vainglorious people," she explained.

"You must really hate yourself, then?" Nicholas suggested smugly; half-jokingly, half-seriously.

"Of course I do. I'm an absolutely awful human being," Olivia smiled.

Nicholas just giggled and shook his head.

"Besides if I did end up marrying anyone it would almost certainly end up in a murder-suicide situation," she stated.

"Which one of you do you reckon would be the murderer?" he asked.

"Oh, it would definitely be the husband! I would be the most _horrible_ wife there _ever_ was, I am sure of it," Olivia replied instantly while slowly going to remove her pajamas to step into the shower.

"Are you just going to watch me while I do this?" she questioned with an angry tone.

"I'll go and get some clothes out for you," Nicholas said and walked away to give Olivia privacy. "Geez! What's with the attitude this morning, huh?"

"I just don't want you looking at me when I'm naked," she replied.

"Olivia, do you even realize how many times you've _forced_ me to help you get into your costume while working on this movie alone? I've seen you naked more than once and I don't even care because you're way too _female _for my personal taste," he said while going through Olivia's clothes to find a comfortable outfit for her to wear while getting her make-up for the day done. "Besides you're like my little sister."

"That's exactly the problem," Olivia answered as she stepped into the shower and turned on the water.

"What is?" Nicholas asked while sitting down on the bed.

"The sister part," she replied.

"_Why_ would that be the problem?" he asked while furrowing his brows together.

"It's just creepy," Olivia said as she washed her hair.

"No, it's not. Since you're like a sister to me, I find it _repulsive_ to see you naked," Nicholas explained.

"Hah!" Olivia snorted. "You should have said that to the kids in the movie I watched last night."

"Oh! So that's what this is about?" Nicholas smiled. "You've been mentally scarred by a movie."

"No, it didn't mentally scar me," she answered as she turned off the water and wrapped a big towel around herself. "It was just… slightly disturbing."

"Do you want me to hand you your clothes, or are you afraid that I might try to have sex with you?" Nicholas teased.

"Stop making fun of me and give me the clothes!" Olivia demanded as she wrapped her hair in a smaller towel.

Nicholas went into the bathroom and placed Olivia's clothes on the counter.

"Look at that," he said sarcastically. "We're in the same room and we're not trying to have sex with each other like those siblings did in whatever horrible movie you were watching last night."

"Get out!" Olivia said angrily as she pushed Nicholas out of the bathroom and slammed the door closed.

Nicholas laughed mockingly.

"And the movie wasn't horrible!" Olivia shouted from behind the closed door. "I bet it was much better than any of the crap that you might have watched last night!"

"I didn't watch any crap!" Nicholas snapped back.

"What did you watch, then?" she replied.

"I watched _Family Guy_!" he retorted.

"Then I won this discussion," a fully dressed Olivia said with a smug grin on her face as she threw the bathroom door open.

"How did you win the discussion?" Nicholas asked, annoyed.

"The movie I watched was clearly better than the crap that you watched," she answered while drying her hair with the smaller towel.

"_Family Guy_ isn't crap, Olivia," Nicholas stated.

"Yes, it is," she replied.

"You have never even seen an entire episode!" he almost shouted. "How would you even know?"

"I've seen enough of it to know!" she shouted back.

The two stood staring at each other before Olivia closed her eyes and dropped back onto her bed.

"No, no, no," Nicholas protested, "Don't you dare pretend to be asleep again."

"I'm not," Olivia said as she peeked at him through one eye before closing it again. "Tell them I'm dead."

Nicholas grabbed a pillow and repeatedly hit Olivia with it.

"Get up! Get up! Get up!" he demanded.

"Fine!" she shouted as she quickly stood up.

"What's the matter with you today, Liv?" Nicholas asked. "You're not on your period are you? It's too early for that."

"I'm just _bored_," she sighed. "I'm bored with _life_."

"Listen to me, Olivia," Nicholas gently spoke as he put his hands on her shoulders. "This is the final day of filming. Tonight we'll go to the wrap party and have a good time. And after that we'll go back home to spend some much needed time off from work for a few days."

"Thank you for helping me, Nicholas," Olivia replied as they hugged each other.

"Of course," he smiled before teasingly adding, "This doesn't you remind of the movie about incest, right?"

"I seriously can't believe that I pay you so much money for you to be such a pain in the ass, Nick," Olivia said as she pushed him away from her.

"You would never survive in this business without me, Liv. And I don't know how I would survive in this world without your friendship," Nicholas said genuinely and lovingly.

"I really don't know whether I should love you or hate you right now," Olivia admitted as she looked at Nicholas suspiciously.

"You love me as I love you," he replied.

"You really shouldn't pay such close attention to my menstrual cycle," she stated, out of the blue. "It's _creepy_."

"I know it is," he replied. "Believe me, I know."

"So you admit that you're a creep, then?" she questioned sarcastically.

"Let's get you to work now," Nicholas sighed; ignoring her.

"Fine," Olivia sighed. "Let's go."

"Fine," he repeated as they left the hotel room.

"Creep," she in jest said under her breath.

"Whatever, Liv… _Family Guy_ is still better than your disgusting incest drama," Nicholas declared.

"_Family Guy_," Olivia snorted sanctimoniously. "Hah!"

"It's not crap, Liv," Nicholas stated.

"What kind of sick human being would ever come up with _that_ shit?" she asked.

"A rich guy, Olivia," he replied seriously, "An _extremely_ rich guy."

"Ugh! I don't like the sound of him," Olivia stated pompously. "He is probably the _vainglorious_ type."


	3. Chapter 3

As Olivia leaned back against the wall behind her, she gazed out over the lively party scene in front of her. She smiled as she watched some of her fellow party guests hurry to the dance floor when they realized that the DJ was playing their favorite song.

Olivia sighed contently as she wiped a loose strand of hair away from her sweaty forehead. This was truly what she had needed. To get away from all the responsibilities that came with her work, even if just for a few days.

"I've got the ice!" Chloë Moretz called out as she came running over to Olivia.

Olivia giggled lightly as she saw the giant smile Chloë had on her face.

"Ready or not, here it comes," Chloë stated.

Before Olivia could protest Chloë had cautiously placed a bag of ice on Olivia's right ankle, which was propped up in front of her on the couch she was sitting on.

"Gosh, Chloë! That's freezing!" Olivia gasped.

"I know…" Chloë stated. "It's ice."

Chloë jokingly rolled her eyes before sitting down at the end of the same couch as Olivia.

"More drinks for the injured dame and her beautiful friend!"

Olivia and Chloë both giggled as the man of the hour, the birthday boy himself, Jared Eng, came over to the private booth with a drink in each hand. He was followed by Maria Menounos who seemed to struggle with the two drinks that she was carrying because of her laughing.

"Tell me, my dear," Jared spoke as he stood beside the table and looked at Olivia. "Are you feeling like you're in the mood for some Rihanna, or would you prefer some Beyoncé, right now?" he asked while motioning towards the drinks.

"Ugh!" Olivia groaned playfully. "No more Rihanna for me tonight!"

"That's probably a good decision considering what happened earlier!" Maria giggled as she handed Chloë a yellow colored drink before sitting down on the booth's other couch.

Jared laughed along with Maria as he handed Olivia a blue colored drink.

"Here you go," Jared said before sitting down next to Maria.

"Thank you," Olivia smiled and took a sip of her drink.

After only a few moments of sitting down, Maria began waving to someone in the crowd as Jared jumped out of his seat with a smile on his face.

"Seth!" they both called in unison.

"Come over here!" Maria added.

The ice bag that was resting on Olivia's ankle slipped off and landed on the floor as she leaned to her side in hope of seeing who they were calling for.

"Oh!" Olivia exclaimed softly and went to reach for the bag.

"Forget it," Chloë said with a smile as she picked up the bag and once again placed it on Olivia's ankle.

"Thanks, Chloë," Olivia smiled as she leaned back against the wall again.

"No problem," Chloë replied.

Olivia, who was starting to feel tired, gave up on her attempt to find out who they had spotted in the crowd. She instead devoted her attention to the drink she was holding in her hand.

"Happy birthday, man!"

Olivia could instantly feel her heart warming at the sound of what was one of the most beautiful speaking voices she had ever heard. Olivia kept her gaze on the drink in her hand as she tried to remember where she possible could have heard that voice before. It sounded so familiar, yet she was absolutely certain that she didn't know the owner of the voice personally.

"Thank you, Seth," Jared replied happily as Olivia could hear the two men giving each other a man hug.

"This is such a nice party," the man said. "Thank you for inviting me."

Even after Olivia had realized that she wouldn't be able to place the voice, she kept her head down. It seemed, and probably was, a very rude thing to do. But she had always been terribly shy about meeting new people, especially when she wasn't required to do so for her work.

"Oh, I'm the one who should be thanking you! I really appreciate that you took the time to be here," Jared said.

"No problem at all," the man replied.

"Hi Seth," Maria said happily.

In the corner of her eye Olivia could see Maria getting out of her seat to give the man a hug.

"How are you?" the man asked.

"I'm great," Maria replied as she sat back down. "How are you?"

"I'm good," the man replied.

"And you've met Chloë before, right?" Jared questioned.

"Yes, I have," the man said and reached to shake Chloë's hand. "It's very nice to meet you again."

"You too," Chloë replied.

Without looking up, Olivia could sense that the attention of the group had turned to her. She had never known exactly why she had always found the process of meeting new people so terrifying. But Olivia would often decline party invitations to avoid situations such as this.

"You've never met Olivia, have you?" Jared asked the man.

Olivia swore that she could feel the eyes of the man studying her carefully and this made her blush.

"No, I've never had the honor to," the man replied.

"Seth, this is Olivia," Jared said.

Olivia discreetly took a deep breath before finally turning her head up to meet the eyes of the man.

"Olivia, this is Seth," Jared smiled.

Olivia's heart skipped a beat as her stomach dropped. She couldn't believe her eyes. The man standing in front of the booth was the handsome, dark-haired man from the Vanity Fair Oscar Party.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Olivia," Seth smiled genuinely and looked at her with warm eyes.

Seth stretched his arm out across the table to extend his right hand to Olivia while he held a drink in his left hand. She inwardly panicked as she realized how clammy her hands were. Olivia tried to subtly wipe her right hand on the shorts she was wearing before taking his hand to shake it.

"The pleasure's all mine," Olivia smiled.

Olivia loved the feeling of holding Seth's soft hand. But at the same time it made her even more shy and insecure as she could feel how dry his hand was compared to hers. As Olivia tried to pull away Seth squeezed her hand a bit tighter and gently stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. Olivia blushed even more as Seth smiled wider making his eyes crinkle.

He was more beautiful than she had remembered him to be. The other people at the booth failed to notice this interaction as their attention had been fleetingly stolen by another guest across the room. Seth released Olivia's hand but kept his eyes locked on her as she immediately went to stare into her drink again.

"Please, sit down and join us, Seth," Maria said with a smile.

"I would love to," Seth smiled and sat down next to Maria; Jared following and sitting down next to Seth.

"How's everything going with the…?"

This was all Olivia heard Jared begin to ask Seth before she drifted into her thoughts. How embarrassing that her hand had been so clammy. He must have been disgusted by it. He couldn't possibly remember her from the Vanity Fair Oscar Party. It shouldn't be allowed to look so perfect. Oh, God! Why did her hand have to be so clammy?!

Olivia shyly glanced up to look at Seth to find that, though he was in conversation with Jared, his attention seemed to be placed on her. Seth subtly smiled towards her while Jared briefly turned his attention towards another guest who passed by the booth. Olivia blushed and smiled sweetly before boring her eyes into the drink in her hand again.

"Where's your hottie tonight, Liv?" Maria asked.

Olivia quickly glanced at Seth before turning her head to look at Maria.

"My what?" Olivia replied with a confused look on her face.

"Your hottie," Maria smiled.

"Your hot boyfriend, Olivia," Chloë clarified with a smile.

Olivia desperately looked to Seth and for a second believed that she had seen pain flash across his eyes. The eyes that, just seconds earlier, had twinkled when he looked at her.

"She wants to know where Jake is tonight," Jared stated.

Olivia looked to Jared with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Oh, my boyfriend," Olivia sighed, "My boyfriend Jake."

Seth couldn't understand why he had ever believed that this young, beautiful woman wouldn't have a boyfriend. The fact that Seth had even dared to hope that she might take interest in him absolutely baffled him.

"Yes. Your boyfriend Jake," Jared smiled as someone called for him across the room. "I'm sorry, guys. I should go. We'll talk later."

"Of course," Chloë smiled.

"Don't worry about it," Maria said.

Olivia remained silent as her eyes focused on Seth, who now seemed to avoid her.

"Thank you all for being here. You guys are awesome," Jared smiled before he left the booth.

"So where is Jake?" Maria questioned.

Olivia felt ashamed that the presence of Seth seemed to completely push away her thoughts of Jake.

"He's on a film set in New Mexico," Olivia stated as she looked at Maria.

"How long have you been with him now?" Chloë asked curiously.

"Three and a half years," Olivia stated tentatively and briefly glanced at Seth who still avoided her gaze as he sighed sadly to himself.

"Oooh, I think we'll be hearing those wedding bells soon!" Maria smiled teasingly.

In the corner of her eye, Olivia could see Seth's attention quickly turning back to her.

"Oh, I don't know," Olivia replied uncomfortably.

"Oh, come on, Ollie! Jake absolutely adores you!" Chloë stated with a smile as she teasingly tickled Olivia's bare feet.

"You could be Mrs. Jacob Hamilton before the year is out," Maria smiled.

"You love him, don't you?" Chloë questioned.

"Yes, of course I love him," Olivia replied without hesitating.

Olivia truly did love Jake. He had been so sweet to her. But was she still in love with him? Had she ever been in love with him?

"Let's say he asked you to marry him tomorrow," Maria questioned, "Would you say yes?"

"I guess… Maybe," Olivia replied before adding truthfully, "I don't know."

Chloë and Maria squealed lightly, clearly interpreting this answer as an affirmative. Seth looked down into his drink before taking a sip of it.

"What about you, Seth?" Maria smiled.

"What about me?" he questioned.

"How's your love life?" Maria asked.

Seth met the eyes of Olivia before quickly looking at Maria.

"There's nothing going on," Seth replied.

"Nothing at all?" Chloë asked.

Seth glanced at Olivia, sighed and shook his head.

"No. Nothing at all," he confirmed as he looked at Chloë.

"Maybe I could set you up with someone?" Maria suggested.

"I don't know," Seth replied.

"Oooh!" Chloë exclaimed. "I'm so, so sorry! But can you guys hear that? That's my jam!"

Seth smiled slightly at Chloë as Maria giggled.

"Come on, people," Chloë demanded, "Dance with me!"

"I'm sorry. I'm not much of a dancer, Chloë," Seth replied apologetically.

"Maria?" Chloë said hopefully.

"Yes, sure," Maria smiled and finished her drink, "I'll join you."

"Are you going to be okay?" Chloë asked worriedly as she looked at Olivia.

"I'll be fine," Olivia smiled.

"I'll be back soon," Chloë stated.

"Don't worry about me, Chloë. Enjoy the party," Olivia said genuinely before teasing, "Now hurry up! That's your jam!"

"Let's go!" Chloë smiled at Maria as she jumped out of her seat.

Seth stood up and moved out of the booth to let Maria pass.

"We'll back be soon," Maria promised with a smile before hurrying to the dance floor with Chloë.

Seth stood uncomfortably by the table of the booth as Chloë and Maria disappeared into the crowd. He stared at his feet for a moment before looking up at Olivia who was shifting in her seat in hope of sitting more comfortably. Once again the bag of ice that was resting on Olivia's ankle slipped off and fell down onto the floor. Olivia sighed and started to push herself up from her seat to retrieve the bag.

"I'll get it for you," Seth stated kindly and placed his drink down on the table as he reached for the bag.

"Thank you," Olivia replied quietly.

Olivia reached her hand out for the bag once Seth stood back up. But he ignored this and didn't hand it over to her.

"Should I…?" Seth began shyly. "Do you want me to…?"

As Seth motioned the bag towards Olivia's injured ankle, she understood what he wanted to ask and she began to blush.

"Yes, if you don't mind," she answered quietly and leaned back against the wall.

Seth turned his gaze up from Olivia's ankle to look at her face. Seth had to catch his breath when Olivia's eyes met his and she smiled at him.

"I don't mind," Seth replied and blushed lightly while shaking his head softly.

As Seth gently placed the bag of ice on Olivia's right ankle, his right hand accidentally grazed her left ankle. Seth discreetly left his hand to linger there for a moment as he reveled in how soft her skin felt. Seth grabbed his drink from the table and took a deep breath as he stood back.

"Thank you, Seth," Olivia said softly.

"You're welcome, Olivia," he replied before looking down into the drink in his hand.

Even though Seth realized that he could never have Olivia, he couldn't stand the thought of not being near her tonight.

"Would you mind if I stayed with you?" Seth asked nervously.

Olivia felt relief as Seth expressed his wish to stay with her. But she couldn't understand what it was about Seth that tugged so at her heartstrings. Olivia didn't even know this man, yet there was nothing that she wanted more than to be with him.

"Not at all," Olivia replied.

"Okay," Seth smiled and sat back down on the booth's other couch.

"Okay," Olivia repeated with a smile and took a sip of her drink.

"Is it sprained?" Seth questioned while nodding his head towards Olivia's ankle.

"Yeah, I think so," Olivia sighed.

"What happened?" he inquired.

"Oh, I've learned an important life lesson today," she smiled. "You should never combine too much tequila and high heels with Chloë Moretz and her favorite Rihanna song."

"Ouch," Seth grumbled sympathetically.

"Exactly. It hurt pretty badly," she replied before jokingly adding, "I know you'll be tempted to try it when you go out to dance in your high heels. But take my word for it, Seth; it's a bad idea."

"I'll try my best to avoid it," Seth laughed genuinely.

Olivia smiled as Seth's laughter warmed her heart and soul. She quietly studied him for a moment as he took a sip of his drink.

"Where are you from?" Olivia inquired.

"Originally?" Seth questioned as he looked at her.

"Yes," Olivia nodded.

"I was born and raised in Kent, Connecticut," he answered. "What about you?"

"I was born in Marseille in France," she stated.

"You're French, then?" Seth smiled.

"I spent the majority of my childhood in France, but I'm not an official citizen of France," Olivia explained. "But my mother is French and her father is too."

"So, what country are you a citizen of?" he asked before smiling, "Or are you stateless, like a pirate?"

"No, I'm not stateless," Olivia giggled. "I'm British American."

"How come?" Seth retorted.

"Well, my mother was born in England to a British mother," she said. "And my father's an American from Cincinnati, Ohio."

"Oh," Seth smiled. "That would explain your Mid-Atlantic accent then."

"I guess so," Olivia smiled shyly.

"You sound a little bit like they did in the motion pictures in 1940's Hollywood," Seth teases lightly as he alters his voice slighty and makes an attempt to imitate Olivia's accent while ridiculing the 1940's way of speaking.

"Oh, Gosh!" she giggled. "That was _pretty_ bad."

"Nonsense," he grinned.

Seth smiled to himself as he thought of how Olivia, just a little while earlier, had not even dared to look at him. Now, here she was, comfortably talking to him alone.

"I like it though," Seth stated.

Olivia raised her eyebrows in question as she looked at him.

"Your accent," Seth clarified with a crooked smile.

"Oh," Olivia smiled shyly before she looked away and blushed.

Seth studied how Olivia's green eyes lit up as she smiled and admired how her blushing gave her cheeks a healthy looking glow. At that moment he knew that he had never seen such a beautiful person before in his life.

"What about you?" Olivia questioned and smiled wider. "Are you an American?"

"I'm an American," Seth confirmed.

"Are your mother and father still living in Kent, or…?" Olivia asked.

"Uh… Well…" Seth stuttered slightly and took a deep breath. "My mother died a little over a year and a half ago, actually."

"Oh, I'm so-," Olivia began to say but was interrupted by Chloë and Maria rushing back to the booth.

"Oh my God!" Maria exclaimed loudly and laughed, "You should have seen Chloë! She is absolutely crazy!"

Olivia apologetically met the eyes of Seth who smiled softly towards her.

"The same could be said about you!" Chloë laughed as Maria sat down next to Seth.

Seth smiled politely towards both of them before meeting Olivia's eyes again. She smiled as they continued to look at each other in silence.

"I'll go get us something to drink, Maria," Chloë stated. "Do you guys want something?"

"No, thank you," Olivia and Seth answered in unison as they both smiled at Chloë.

"I'll be right back," Chloë smiled as she walked away from the booth.

Olivia grabbed her clutch from the table to pull out her phone that had just started ringing.

"Hello? Willow? Are you okay?" Olivia asked worriedly as she talked to the person on the phone.

While Maria started to suggest women to set him up on a date with, Seth paid close attention to Olivia in the corner of her eye.

"Yes, of course. I'll get home as soon as possible," Olivia said. "Okay. Bye."

"Is everything alright?" Seth asked while furrowing his eyebrows together.

"Yeah, that just was my sister, she…" Olivia drifted off.

"Is she okay?" Maria asked.

"Yes, she's fine. She just didn't want to be alone. So I guess I should go," Olivia explained.

Chloë returned to the booth as Olivia grabbed her shoes from the floor underneath the table.

"Are you leaving?" Chloë questioned as she placed two drinks down onto the table.

"Yes, Willow needs me," Olivia smiled and put her shoe on her left foot.

"Is she okay?" Chloë asked.

"Yes, everything's fine," Olivia smiled as she removed the bag of ice from her right ankle.

"Alright," Chloë answered, not entirely convinced.

"Ugh!" Olivia groaned.

"What's the matter?" Seth asked fearfully.

"My shoe doesn't even fit my foot anymore!" Olivia desperately exclaimed.

"Stop trying to force it on, Olivia. Your foot is too swollen. You'll only hurt yourself more," Chloë stated.

"Fine," Olivia sighed exasperatedly.

"Do you want me to help you get outside?" Seth offered.

Not only did Seth want to make sure that Olivia would be okay. But he also didn't want to part with her just yet. Olivia smiled and went to reply to his offer, when Chloë spoke before her.

"Don't worry, Seth," Chloë smiled. "I'll take care of her. I'm partly to blame here, after all."

Olivia wanted to go with Seth, but she couldn't find a good reason to deny Chloë's help so she accepted it.

"Thank you for the offer, Seth," Olivia smiled.

Olivia grabbed her left shoe and her clutch before Chloë helped her up.

"No problem at all," he replied genuinely. "Are you going to be alright?"

"I hope so," Olivia smiled before turning her attention to Maria. "I'll talk to you soon."

"Of course," Maria smiled, "Take care."

"I'll be back in a minute," Chloë said with a smile.

"Bye," Olivia smiled while throwing a last glance at Seth.

"Bye," Seth replied with a smile.

Chloë held Olivia's arm to steady her as she hobbled out of the party.

As soon as Olivia had disappeared from his view, Seth felt heartbroken. And even though he was surrounded by a crowd of people and friends, he felt desperately lonely. He couldn't bear to stay much longer. He just wanted to go home and silently feel miserable by himself.

But Seth forced himself to remain at the party for another 20 minutes until he felt like an appropriate moment to excuse himself from the company had appeared. Seth had almost reached the front door when the sound of a female voice made him stop in his tracks.

"You didn't stay for very long."

Seth turned to his left and felt his heartbeat quicken when he saw Olivia sitting on a chair a bit further into the entrance hall.

"What's your rush?" Olivia questioned with a smile.

"Oh, I have to get up early in the morning," Seth lied.

Seth didn't want to admit that he had completely lost interest in the party once Olivia had left.

"Do you have to work?" Olivia asked.

"Yes," Seth lied again.

Olivia smiled and nodded before looking down at the floor in front of her.

"How come you're still here?" Seth questioned.

Olivia turned her gaze back to Seth as she shrugged lightly.

"I have no idea how I'm getting home," Olivia smiled sheepishly before giggling. "So I decided to sit down until I figured it out."

"What solutions have you come up with?" he asked.

"None," Olivia giggled again. "I haven't had time to think about it yet. I've been too busy sitting here and feeling sorry for myself."

Seth chuckled as he let out a deep breath and glanced away from Olivia for just a moment.

"I could give you a ride home," Seth offered with a smile.

"Oh, no," she replied seriously, "I wouldn't want to trouble you."

"It wouldn't be a problem," Seth smiled genuinely.

"Yes, it would be a problem for you. You should go home and get some sleep if you have to get up early," Olivia quickly said. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

"Yes, I know you will be fine," he replied, "Because I'll drive you home safely."

"But yo-," she began to protest.

"Please, let me give you a ride home, Olivia," Seth almost pleaded. "I promise it won't be a problem."

Olivia opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again as she hesitated.

"I won't murder you if that's what you're worrying about," he teased.

Olivia giggled lightly and looked down at the floor.

"Come on, Olivia," Seth said as he moved himself closer to her. "Your sister's waiting for you."

"Are you sure it wouldn't be a problem?" she questioned.

"I'm sure," he smiled and extended his hand to help her stand up.

Olivia searched his eyes to see if he truly didn't mind before smiling and nodding.

"Okay," Olivia answered and placed her hand in his. "Thank you."

"No problem," Seth replied and started to lightly pull on Olivia's hand to help her up from her seat.

"Oh, shit!" Olivia exclaimed in pain as she carefully tried to stand on her bare, injured foot.

"What's wrong?" he asked fearfully as he lowered her back into her seat.

"I'm so sorry, Seth," she replied. "The pain in my ankle is getting worse."

"Why are you apologizing to me?" Seth questioned before he lowered himself down and sat on his heels.

"I don't know," Olivia answered. "I yelled in your ear, I suppose."

Seth gently lifted Olivia's right foot from the floor and began caressing her ankle as he studied the injury.

"It is starting to look a little worse," he stated.

Olivia's breathing quickened as she tried to calm the butterflies in her stomach when Seth absentmindedly began to caress her leg slightly above her ankle. Seth couldn't help the extreme jealousy he felt when he thought about the fact that there was a man out there who was allowed to let his hands travel freely across Olivia's body.

"We should get you home so you can rest," Seth cleared his throat and quickly stood back up once he realized what his hands were doing.

Olivia instantly missed his touch and blushed lightly as she reminded herself that she had a boyfriend.

"Are you sure it won't be a problem? I really don't want to burden you," Olivia said honestly, while secretly hoping that he wouldn't take his offer back.

"Trust me, Olivia," Seth replied genuinely, "It is alright. I want to help you."

"Okay," she agreed quietly.

"Let's get you to the car," he stated as he lowered himself slightly and once again reached for Olivia's hand.

Seth placed Olivia's right arm around his shoulders while placing his left arm around her back. Olivia sighed and closed her eyes for a short moment as she inhaled his scent.

"Are you ready?" he questioned.

"Mm hmm," Olivia nodded.

"Okay. Here we go," Seth said as he placed his right hand on Olivia's left elbow.

Seth lifted her up out of her seat and steadied her as she stood on her left leg.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm okay," she smiled.

"Okay," he smiled.

Seth carried most of her weight as she hopped on one leg. They were immediately crowded by paparazzi and fans as they made it outside.

"What happened? Are you okay? Can I have an autograph? Could you sign this picture for me? Give us a smile! Are you friends? How long have you known each other? Can I have an autograph? What happened?"

Olivia and Seth smiled as they both remained silent. They agreed to sign autographs and take photos with fans as they waited for the parking valet to bring Seth's car around to them. Seth's left arm remained securely placed around Olivia's back to help her keep her balance.

"Thank you. Have good night," Seth smiled towards the fans and paparazzi as he started to help Olivia towards the car.

"I hope you'll feel better soon, Olivia," a male fan said genuinely.

"Thank you so much," she smiled in response.

Seth helped Olivia into the passenger seat and closed the door behind her. He made his way around the car and into the driver's seat.

"It's a nice car you've got, Seth," Olivia stated.

"Thanks," Seth replied before smiling, "I guess."

Olivia smiled as she rolled her eyes at his response.

"Where to, my lady?" Seth questioned with a smirk.

Olivia giggled and gave the directions to her house as Seth drove out onto the street. The two small talked comfortably until Seth pulled onto the street where Olivia lived.

"It's the third one on the right," Olivia instructed. "My sister's coming down to help me to the house, so you can just stop on the street."

"Okay," he replied and came to a stop in front of the entrance to the driveway.

"Thank you so much, Seth," Olivia said. "What can I do to repay you?"

"Nothing at the moment," Seth smiled. "We'll consider it a favor."

"Thank you," she said again. "I really mean it."

"It was my pleasure," he replied.

"Well, it was very nice to meet you, Seth," Olivia smiled and extended her hand for Seth to shake.

"Likewise," Seth smiled.

Olivia turned a little in her seat and placed her hand on the door handle to get out of the car. But she stopped herself and took a deep breath before turning back to Seth with serious eyes.

"I'm so sorry about your mother, Seth," Olivia said.

Seth's expression turned into a sad one as he looked back at Olivia.

"I truly am sorry for your loss. And I'm very sorry that I brought it up tonight," Olivia apologized. "And I'm even sorrier for bringing up it again now."

"It really is okay. You did nothing wrong, Olivia," he replied and looked down at his hands.

"How did she die?" Olivia asked after a few moments of silence between them.

Seth looked hurt as he quickly turned his eyes back to Olivia.

"Oh, God! I'm so sorry. I don't even know what I was thinking. I shouldn't have asked you that. Please, forgive me, Seth. I am sorry," she rambled as she blushed.

"There's nothing to forgive, Olivia," he smiled softly. "I was just caught a little off guard. I wasn't expecting the question."

"I know. I'm sorry. Why would you expect that question? It's none of my business. I'm really sorry," Olivia continued to ramble and reached to open the door.

"Olivia! Wait!" Seth exclaimed as both of his hands reached to stop her from getting out of the car.

Olivia said nothing as she cautiously turned her head around to look at Seth.

"Breast cancer," he stated simply. "My mother died of breast cancer."

Olivia relaxed back against her seat as Seth's hands left her.

"I'm sorry," Olivia said quietly.

"I know," Seth chuckled lightly. "You've said that."

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry fo-," she began apologizing.

"Please, don't say you're sorry for saying that you're sorry," he interrupted with a laugh. "It's not needed. I believe you already."

"Uh… Uh…" Olivia stuttered shyly. "Then I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything," Seth smiled warmly.

"Do you miss her?" she questioned.

Seth knotted his forehead as he looked away from Olivia who panicked once she realized what she had said.

"Oh, no! I did it again! I'm absolutely horrible! I'm sorry, Seth!" Olivia exclaimed

Olivia slapped herself on the forehead with the palm of her hand before letting it slide down to cover her eyes.

"It's okay, Olivia. Honestly it is," Seth said to calm her down. "And to answer your question…"

Olivia slowly removed her hand away from her eyes and glanced at Seth.

"Yes. I do miss her. I miss her very much," he admitted before sadly looking forward onto the road.

Olivia acted purely on instinct when she placed her right hand on his left cheek to turn his face towards her. Their eyes met before Olivia closed hers as she leaned forward and softly kissed Seth's lips. Seth, who was taken by surprise, kept his eyes open to stare at Olivia for a moment before he closed them and leaned into the kiss. Seth couldn't help the sigh of pleasure that escaped his lips as Olivia pulled away from him. Seth opened his eyes and saw Olivia smiling brightly as she watched him.

Seth smiled back and went to say something, but he stopped himself as their moment came to an end. The inside of the car was lit up by a motion sensing light further up on the driveway. Olivia glanced over her shoulder to see Willow making her way towards the car. She quickly turned back to Seth and gently caressed his left cheek with the hand she was still holding there, before removing it to collect her belongings.

"I'm sorry," Olivia said shyly as she opened the door and stepped out on her left foot.

"Hey, Olivia?" Seth called.

"Yeah?" she smiled softly as she turned around to look at him.

"I guess, I'll see you?" he said nervously.

"Yes," Olivia stated with a wide smile, "Maybe."

Seth smiled as he admired how Olivia's eyes sparkled in the night before she shut the door. Seconds later she was joined by a brown-haired, young woman who helped her up the driveway. Seth relaxed back into his seat and happily watched Olivia for a moment before he started the engine of the car to drive home.


	4. Chapter 4

The beams of morning sunshine that streamed through the window and onto the pillow stirred Olivia from her sleep. Olivia slowly peeled her eyes open to find that she had forgotten to close the curtains before going to bed. She groaned in dismay as she squeezed her eyes closed again.

As Olivia drifted between sleep and wakefulness, her expression softened as she remembered the night before. Her heart fluttered comfortably as she envisioned Seth. Olivia smiled as she remembered his voice and the sound of his laughter. She purred blissfully as she remembered the way Seth's lips had felt against hers and the way he had tasted as they kissed.

Olivia was amazed at just how vivid the memories were as she suddenly felt a pair of lips kissing hers. She moaned lightly and willingly began to kiss back. But wait a minute… This couldn't possibly be something that was just happening in her imagination. It felt too real. But it didn't feel like Seth and it certainly didn't taste like him. Olivia pulled back as her eyes flew open.

"Jacob!" she exclaimed in shock while groggily trying to blink away the sleep in her eyes.

"Morning, baby," Jacob smiled widely as he began to climb into Olivia's bed.

"It's you!" she gasped.

"Of course, Livia!" he stated before kissing her again.

Olivia kept her eyes open as she kissed him back while he placed himself on top of her.

"Did you expect somebody else?" Jacob questioned jokingly.

When Olivia looked into Jacob's piercing blue eyes it felt like someone had stabbed her heart with a knife. Jacob smiled lovingly at her as he had no suspicions whatsoever that Olivia might have kissed another man just a few hours before.

"No. Of course not," Olivia lied. "I'm just surprised to see you."

Jacob giggled and rested his entire weight on Olivia as he kissed her again. After a little while of kissing him back, Olivia tenderly pushed Jacob's head back to end the kiss and to look him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry, Jake," she said, "But I'm a little confused. Aren't you supposed to be filming today?"

"Yes, but I went to the director and I told him how much I missed my girlfriend," Jacob staunchly explained. "And I threatened that if he didn't allow me some time off to visit her in California, then I would walk off that film set and never return!"

Olivia narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she looked at Jacob.

"Don't look at me like that, baby," he said, "I'm telling you the truth!"

"Really?" Olivia questioned as she raised her eyebrows in humored disbelief.

"Well, I mean," Jacob smirked, "It is possible that the filming had to be delayed for a few days because of the weather. And the crew might have told me to, 'Get the hell out' of their way for the weekend."

Olivia laughed genuinely and pulled Jacob back down to kiss him. He moved his lips from her mouth to her neck. Jacob kissed a spot repeatedly before he began sucking on it.

"Jacob!" Olivia shrieked before giggling, "Stop it!"

Jacob giggled slightly and shook his head while continuing to suck on the same spot.

"But Jacob, a hickey is so childish!" she answered.

Jacob stopped sucking and smiled at Olivia.

"I don't care," he stated before he briefly admired his work and gave it a small kiss.

Jacob's hands moved and began to roughly massage Olivia's breasts while kissing her neck.

"Wait a minute, Jacob," Olivia said as she pushed him away, "How did you even get into my house?"

"Willow let me in as she was leaving to go to visit Ashley," he stated and tried to kiss her lips again.

"She left already?" Olivia asked.

Jacob nodded as he abandoned his attempt to kiss her mouth and let his lips move down to her chest.

"What a bitch!" she exclaimed. "How could she leave without saying something? She's going to be at Ashley's house for the rest of the weekend! It would have been nice to say, 'Oh, hey! I'm leaving now, Olivia. Thank you for letting me stay at your house', wouldn't it? I mean, who does she think sh-."

"Olivia!" Jacob cut her off. "I'm sorry, babe. But I really don't want to talk about Willow while I'm trying to have sex with my girlfriend."

"Oh," Olivia sighed disappointedly, "Fine."

Olivia shifted uncomfortably beneath Jacob as he went back to kissing her neck.

Olivia squirmed awkwardly in her seat, by her dressing table, as she braided her hair. She had lost her virginity to Jacob when she was 18 years old, but she had never been able to learn to enjoy sex. It only made her feel unsatisfied and Olivia tried to avoid it whenever she could. Once he had finished this morning, Jacob went out to buy breakfast for them while Olivia took a bath.

Olivia closed her eyes and enjoyed the silence of being alone in the house for the first time in weeks. She sighed as the sound of the phone ringing did nothing to ease the headache her hangover was causing her.

"Hello?" she answered with an unmistakable aggravation in her voice.

"You didn't seem to mind being in the company of such a sick human being."

"What do you want, Nicholas?" Olivia demanded.

"Was he as vainglorious as you said he would be, Liv?" Nicholas continued teasingly.

"What are you talking about?" she retorted.

"The extremely rich guy from last night," he stated confidently.

"Nicholas, I don't understand who you're talking about," Olivia whined.

"I'm talking about Seth MacFarlane, Liv," Nicholas clarified.

"Seth? Seth MacFarlane?" she questioned nervously. "How do you know about Seth?"

"Please, I've seen the photos of you leaving the party with him last night," he answered.

"Oh," Olivia said quietly.

"Now tell me," Nicholas demanded jokingly, "Was he as vainglorious as you said he would be?"

"How could I have said that? I didn't ev-," she began.

"Don't you know who the guy is?" he questioned and Olivia knew that he was smirking, even though she couldn't see him.

"I know that he's Seth and now you've told me that his last name is MacFarlane. But I don-," Olivia rambled before being interrupted by Nicholas' mocking laughter.

"Seth MacFarlane is the sick human being that created Family Guy," he explained.

"He couldn't be," she replied.

"Oh, yes. He could be, and he is. Not to mention the fact that he voices most of the characters himself," Nicholas smiled. "Seth MacFarlane is Family Guy."

"What? No, that's not possible," she protested weakly.

"Why? Because he is a nice and normal guy?" Nicholas questioned.

"No, I… I…" Olivia stuttered, "I just don't kno-."

"He's incredibly attractive, isn't he?" he interrupted.

Olivia blushed and smiled to herself. But stopped when she suddenly was overcome with the fear that Nicholas somehow would find out what had happened between her and Seth the night before.

"Yes, I suppose that he is," Olivia admitted sheepishly.

"I think we can both agree that you judged the guy unfairly prior to meeting him," Nicholas stated.

"You're probably right," she replied.

"I am right. One of these days you might even pull your head out of your ass and realize that Family Guy is an amazing television show," he teased.

"Yes, maybe," Olivia answered quietly.

"'Yes, maybe?' Are you ill, Olivia? You never give up that easily," Nicholas asked, genuinely worried, before adding jokingly, "You're not in love with the guy, are you?"

Olivia blushed as she got butterflies in her stomach. Was she in love with Seth? No. She couldn't be. She didn't even know him. But if she wasn't, then why did the mention of his name make her feel so strange inside? What was she supposed to answer?

"Babe, I'm back! Let's watch TV," Jacob shouted as he walked back into the house.

"I've got to go, Nicholas. Take care," Olivia hurriedly said and hung up the phone before he could answer her.

Olivia released a sigh of relief and stood up to hop on her left leg towards the living room.

"Oh, baby! Let me help you," Jacob smiled when he saw her coming.

He hurried over and picked her up from the ground. Jacob swiftly threw Olivia over his shoulder and carried her to the couch.

"Thanks," Olivia giggled and looked at the table in front of her, where Jacob had placed their breakfast.

"You're welcome, babe," he smiled as he sat down next to her and turned on the television.

Olivia reached for a bagel on the table and nibbled on it as she leaned back into the couch.

"Oh, look!" Jacob exclaimed, "Family Guy is on!"

Olivia's eyes widened and she quickly turned to look at the television.

"Oh, man!" he smiled, "Seth MacFarlane must the coolest dude in the universe, I tell you."

"I… Uh…" Olivia cleared her throat. "I met him at Jared's party last night."

"What? Baby, that's awesome! What was he like?" Jacob questioned.

"Uh… He was very nice. He was actually the one who gave me a ride home," she replied.

"You've been in Seth MacFarlane's car?" he smiled excitedly.

Olivia nodded and fiddled with the bagel in her hand.

"Alright, baby!" Jacob exclaimed happily. "So, did you like him?"

Olivia looked up at Jacob and swallowed the lump in her throat. For a split second she considered admitting what had happened the night before. Olivia ultimately decided against it and instead just nodded her head again.

"Yes. Yes, I did like him," Olivia replied truthfully as she placed her unfinished bagel back on the table.

"That's so great," Jacob smiled and turned back to watch the television.

"Yeah…" Olivia replied and looked down into her lap.

Olivia blushed as she could clearly hear Seth's voice coming from the television. She was certain that she had never felt this ashamed before in her life. Olivia looked at Jacob and ran her left hand through his blond hair as she studied his chiseled facial features. He turned to look at her and smiled widely.

"Can we please watch something else, Jake?" she asked shyly.

"Sure, baby," Jacob replied and grabbed her hand to kiss the back of it quickly. "Anything you want."

Olivia reached for the remote control and started to flip through the channels.

"I love you," Jacob stated, out of the blue.

Olivia immediately stopped what she was doing and turned to look at Jacob who was smiling tenderly at her. He pulled her close and held her as she burst into tears.

"Baby, what's wrong?" he questioned.

"I don't know," Olivia lied as she threw her arms around his neck.

"Please, don't cry," Jacob said quietly.

"I love you," Olivia stated honestly.

Jacob smiled and tightened his hold on her.


	5. Chapter 5

The throbbing pain in her right ankle had kept Olivia awake for most of the night. Olivia yawned and collapsed back onto her bed after closing Jacob's overnight bag that was placed next to her.

"I'm going to be _so_ late," Jacob called from the shower.

"Maybe you shouldn't have slept all day," Olivia teased snarkily.

"There's no need to be rude, babe," he replied with a slight chuckle.

"_Sorry_," she mocked while rolling her eyes.

"Baby! What's with the attitude today? Are you mad at me?" Jacob questioned.

"No. I'm sorry, Jake," Olivia said; this time without any sarcasm. "My ankle is _killing_ me!"

"Maybe you should go to the doctor," he suggested.

"I'm sure it will pass by itself. It's just a sprain," she sighed.

"It wouldn't hurt to get someone to look at it though," Jacob replied honestly. "That bruise has got a _nasty_ color. I'm worried for you, Olivia."

"I'll think about it," Olivia stated.

"Thank you, baby," he said before questioning, "What are you going to do tonight?"

"Oh, I'm just going to stay home and rest," she replied. "Jessie's coming over to have a girls' night in with me."

"That's nice," Jacob said. "When is she coming over?"

"I don't know," Olivia shrugged. "She said she'd buy us some Chinese food on the way. She'll probably be here any minute now."

"Fuck!" he exclaimed.

"What?" she asked and raised her head from the bed to look towards the bathroom.

"I just realized that I haven't even packed yet!" Jacob replied tensely. "Oh, they're going to kill me if I miss my flight!"

"Don't worry about it, Jacob," Olivia stated calmly and laid her head back down onto the bed. "I've already packed it for you."

"You have? Oh, baby. You're a saint," he replied.

"If only it would be that easy to become a saint," she said quietly as she closed her eyes.

Olivia shot up from the bed at the sound of the doorbell.

"Jessie's here!" she called out and started to hop out of the bedroom. "I've put some clothes out for you on the bed, Jacob! Everything else is packed in your bag."

"You sound like my mom!" Jacob exclaimed.

"_Whatever_, Jacob!" she groaned. "Now hurry up and get out of the shower, Jake! You're worse than a girl!"

"_Haha_! Very funny, Olivia!" he replied sarcastically.

"You're _late_, Jacob!" she called out exasperatedly as she reached the foyer.

Olivia swung the front door open to greet Jessica, but was stunned to find someone else standing outside her front door.

"Seth!" Olivia exclaimed as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Hello," Seth smiled nervously.

Olivia felt all of her annoyance draining out of her body as she looked into his eyes.

"Wh… Wh… What… Wh… What are you doing here?" she stuttered as she smiled back.

"I came to return this for you," Seth replied as he reached his hand out, revealing a lipstick. "I found it in my car this morning. It must have fallen out of your handbag when you got out of the car."

Olivia hesitantly took the lipstick out of Seth's hand and studied it carefully.

"Seth, this isn't mine," Olivia stated quietly.

"It's not?" Seth questioned and slightly furrowed his eyebrows together.

"No," she shook her head. "It must belong to some other woman who's been in your car lately. I'm sure that you're very popular with the ladies, so that wou-."

"That's not possible. I haven't ha-," he interrupted her quickly; terrified that Olivia might assume him to be a womanizer.

"Relax," Olivia smiled widely as she cut him off and touched his arm, "I'm only kidding¨about the lipstick."

Seth blushed lightly as he relaxed.

"It's mine," she stated and giggled. "You should have seen the look on your face."

Seth groaned jokingly and shook his head as he chuckled.

"I'm sorry. That was terribly rude of me," Olivia said and reached to place the lipstick on the foyer table. "Thank you for bringing it to me."

"You're welcome," he smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Uh…" Olivia paused slightly as she looked down at her ankle. "I'm alright, I suppose."

She smiled up at Seth who smiled back as the two stood looking at each other in silence for a few moments.

"Thank you for helping me the other night," Olivia said genuinely as she reached out and took Seth's left hand in both of hers.

They both carefully studied how her fingers intertwined with his.

"It was my pleasure," Seth managed to choke out before he sighed contently.

Seth turned his attention to Olivia's face, away from their hands. He couldn't help the affectionate grin that appeared on his face when he saw Olivia blushing as she continued to play with his fingers. Seth stepped into the foyer and placed his free hand on Olivia's neck as he used his thumb to angle her face up to him.

"I… I-," Olivia stuttered as her eyes met his.

Seth leaned in, ignoring her attempt to speak and lightly brushed her lips with his own. Olivia released Seth's hand and placed her own on his waist to pull him closer to her. Seth placed his free hand around the back of Olivia's shoulders as he hugged her close. Olivia moaned lightly as Seth deepened the kiss by gently sucking on her lips.

"I actually brought you something else, as well, Olivia," Seth stated as he reluctantly ended the kiss and stepped away from her.

"What do you mean?" she questioned with a confused look on his face.

Olivia instantly missed the feeling of his lips on her. But she watched curiously as Seth reached down to the ground outside of the front door and returned back up with a box in his hand. Olivia smiled as he handed it over to her.

"Is it a gift?" she smiled.

"Mm hmm," he nodded.

Olivia looked down at the box in her hand and giggled. She didn't bother to open it and instead placed it beside her lipstick on the foyer table. Olivia grabbed Seth's arms and pulled him back into a passionate kiss. Seth smiled against her mouth and let his hands travel to the sides of her head. He pulled his mouth away and tenderly stroked her face as he admired her beauty.

Olivia giggled happily as Seth leaned down to place a series of kisses on her jaw. Their eyes met as a smiling Seth moved his lips to pay the same attention to Olivia's jaw on the other side of her face. Olivia moaned again and closed her eyes as his lips caressed her skin. He gently pushed back the hair that was resting on Olivia's shoulder to get better access to her neck. Olivia opened her eyes and slightly turned her head to curiously look at Seth when he seemed to have stopped in his tracks.

"What's the matter?" she asked worriedly.

Seth didn't reply, but instead let one of his hands travel to her neck. His fingers grazed over a hickey that had not been there the night of Jared's birthday party; he was certain of it. Olivia's eyes widened once she realized what had caught his attention and moved her hand to cover the hickey.

"Seth, I-," Olivia began to explain.

"Oh, baby! I'm even later than I thought!" Jacob called.

Olivia immediately shrunk back from Seth at the sound of Jacob's voice. She had completely forgotten that he was there. Heck, she had completely forgotten that he even _existed_. Seth stepped away from Olivia and stared at her; his emotional pain apparent in his eyes.

"I… I-," she tried again.

"I've really got to run, babe," Jacob interrupted as he stepped into the foyer carrying his bag.

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows together as she lightly shook her head with her mouth gaping open, desperately trying to find her words.

"Oh, no way! You're Seth MacFarlane," Jacob exclaimed happily as he noticed his presence.

Seth tore his eyes away from Olivia to look at Jacob who extended his hand towards him, which he hesitantly accepted.

"Yeah," Seth stated simply.

"Jake Hamilton," Jacob smiled.

Jacob was completely oblivious to what had just occurred between Olivia and Seth. And he was too ignorant to pick up on the uncomfortable tension that filled the room.

"Thank you for taking such good care of my missus the other night," Jacob smiled genuinely at Seth as he wrapped his arm around the small of Olivia's back.

Both Olivia and Seth flinched at Jacob's choice of word. _Missus_.

"Okay," was all that Seth could find to say quietly as he briefly managed to fake a smile.

"Oh, man! I'm such a huge fan of your work," Jacob smiled. "Just yesterday I was telling Olivia of how I think you're like the most _awesome_ dude in the world!"

Seth looked at Olivia and knew that he had never felt so hurt in his life.

"Didn't I, baby?" Jacob smiled as he nudged Olivia. "Didn't I tell you how cool Seth MacFarlane is?"

"Yes," Olivia breathed.

Olivia closed her eyes to try to stop the tears that were threatening to form in her eyes.

"That's my ride!" Jacob exclaimed in response to a car honking repeatedly from the street.

Olivia opened her eyes to find that Seth was still staring at her.

"I've got to go now," Jacob stated and twisted Olivia towards him to capture her mouth with his.

Olivia's eyes remained open as she gently tried to push him away. Through the corner of her eye she could see how increasingly annoyed and hurt Seth was becoming as Jacob shoved his tongue into Olivia's mouth. Seth finally had to look away from the couple, to stop himself from either crying or violently punching Jacob in the face, when he saw Jacob roughly grabbing Olivia's butt.

"I love you, babe," Jacob stated as he finally released Olivia from his mouth and his hands.

Olivia simply nodded in response to Jacob and discreetly wiped her mouth as he began making his way out of the house.

"MacFarlane," Jacob smiled as he patted Seth's shoulder with his hand while he passed him through the door.

Jacob began to run down the driveway and disappeared from view as the car honked again.

"Seth," Olivia breathed when she could hear the car leaving.

"Don't," Seth replied coldly without looking at her.

"But Seth, I-," she began.

"I said, 'don't'," he bellowed as he turned to look her straight in the eyes.

"I'm sorry," Olivia said quietly as she began to cry.

Seth looked away and sniffled as he tried to stop himself from crying. How could he have been so stupid? Seth knew that Olivia had a boyfriend, yet he _still_ couldn't keep himself away from her. He scolded himself silently and shook his head in response to Olivia.

"Seth, I didn't mean to…" Olivia began, but had to stop herself to catch her breath, before trying again, "I'm sorry. I truly am _sorry_."

"I'm the one who's sorry," Seth replied and looked at Olivia again; this time his own eyes filling with tears. "I shouldn't have come here today."

"Seth!" she called as he began to leave her house. "Please, don't go! Let me talk to you! Please, Seth!"

"It doesn't matter," Seth shrugged.

"Of course it matters," Olivia cried. "Please, give me a chance to explain!"

"There's nothing to explain," he stated and continued to walk away from the house. "Everything's alright, Olivia. It really is."

"No, it's not!" she shouted as she desperately hopped after him on one leg. "Everything is _not_ alright! Please, come back so I can talk to you!"

"Olivia!" Seth exclaimed as he turned around to look at her. "Don't worry. This meant nothing!"

Olivia stopped and automatically placed one of her hands over her heart, as if she had been injured there.

"This meant _nothing_!" he repeated harshly before getting in to his car and drove away.

Without thinking Olivia made an attempt to run after the car to stop him. She screamed out in pain as her injured ankle caused her leg to give out underneath her. Olivia violently collapsed to the hard surface of the driveway.

Olivia rested her forehead on the ground as she made no attempt to get back up. Her whole body shook as she cried because of the awful pain; not the one coming from her ankle, but the one from the emotional mess she had caused for herself.

"Oh my God! Are you alright?" Jessica exclaimed worriedly and rushed over to her.

Olivia had no idea how long she had been laying on the ground before Jessica had arrived.

"My ankle really hurts," Olivia lied as Jessica pulled her up from the ground to hug her.

"Come on, sweetie. Let's go inside and eat some dinner," Jessica said as she tried to comfort Olivia.

"Okay," Olivia nodded and wiped away the tears from her face.

"Then we'll take you to the doctor," Jessica instructed as she helped Olivia back into the house.

"Okay," Olivia repeated.

"And since I do happen to be the best BFF in the world, I've brought cookie dough that we can eat when we get back to our girls' night," Jessica smiled.

"Perfect," Olivia giggled in response.

"Boy," Jessica exclaimed as she jokingly acted like she struggled to help Olivia move forward, "We should really make sure that the doctor gets you some crutches, you cripple!"

They giggled lightly as they entered the house.


	6. Chapter 6

After a night filled with food, a trip to the emergency room, more food, gossip and far too much cookie dough, Olivia and Jessica had finally collapsed in their PJs on the couch, in Olivia's house, in front of CNN.

"It's _very_ possible that we are _the_ lamest chicks in Hollywood," Jessica stated.

"_Just_ Hollywood?" Olivia questioned sarcastically as she looked at her best friend.

They both giggled and turned their attention back to the television.

"Do you want to go out?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah," Jessica replied eagerly. "Let's go out and party!"

"Yeah!" Olivia agreed excitedly.

Neither of the girls made any attempt to move from the couch; instead they almost began to sink further into it.

"_Or_ we could just stay here?" Jessica suggested after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah… That would be cool too, I guess," Olivia replied.

They glanced at each other and broke into laughter.

"I'll get us some more popcorn," Jessica stated as she moved into the kitchen.

"Okay," Olivia smiled.

Olivia sighed as she was left alone. Her thoughts immediately traveled back to what had happened earlier. How could she have done that to Jacob? They had stuck together through thick and thin for years. What would he do if he ever found out about what she had done with Seth?

Would it be better for her to tell Jacob about it or should she hope that he would never find out? Olivia felt herself preferring the second option better than the first. But could it ever be better to hide something of such a magnitude from Jacob? Wouldn't that be incredibly dishonest?

"No," she thought.

Why would it matter enough to tell Jacob? After all, Seth had made it very clear that his encounters with Olivia had meant _nothing_ to him. So there couldn't possibly be a reason for her to jeopardize her relationship with Jacob over something that didn't even mean _anything_, with someone that Olivia didn't even _know_.

But how could it not have meant anything to Seth? How could he not have _felt_ what _she_ felt? _How _could he not feel what she was feeling _right now_?

"Are you okay?"

Jessica's worried voice brought Olivia out of her thoughts. It wasn't until then that Olivia realized that she was crying.

"Yeah, yeah," Olivia lied. "I'm okay."

"You don't seem okay," Jessica stated as she placed the bowl of popcorn on the table before sitting down next to Olivia. "Is it the ankle?"

"No," Olivia shook her head. "No, it's not the ankle."

"Well, then, what is it, sweetie?" Jessica questioned as she placed her hand on Olivia's right arm.

Olivia sniffled and wiped away tears from her face as she sat up to look at Jessica.

"Do you think Jacob is cheating on me?" Olivia asked seriously; not only to avoid telling Jessica about Seth just yet, but also because the subject had been nagging her for hours.

"_What_? What makes you think that he would be?" Jessica inquired with a shocked look on her face.

"Emma called this morning to tell me that there are reports online that Jacob is cheating on me with Sarah Roberts!" Olivia replied and began crying harder.

"Sarah Roberts?" Jessica questioned as she furrowed her eyebrows together and slightly shook her head as she tried to figure out who they were talking about, "His co-star?"

"Yes," Olivia nodded. "Do you think that Jake is cheating on me with her?"

"Wait a minute, Liv," Jessica replied, "Let me see if I'm getting this right. Sarah Roberts… Is she the blonde one?"

"Yes," Olivia sobbed.

"Oh," Jessica breathed as she sunk into the couch with a devastated look on her face. "And Emma told you that Jake was…? She told you that he…?"

"Yes," Olivia nodded again.

"Oh, wow," Jessica said as she briefly looked away from Olivia.

"He is, isn't he?" Olivia cried. "Jacob is cheating on me!"

"_No_!" Jessica almost shouted as she turned back to Olivia. "He's _not_ cheating on you, Liv."

"You don't know that!" Olivia retorted. "Don't say that when you don't even know, Jess!"

"Olivia, listen to me!" Jessica demanded as she grabbed Olivia's arms. "Jacob is _not _cheating on you. Why on earth would he? You're the _best_ girl in the world! You're his _favorite_ person _ever_. He _loves_ you, Olivia."

"You really think so?" Olivia sniffled.

"He _loves_ you," Jessica reaffirmed. "Jacob is _not _cheating on you with Sarah or _anybody else_."

Olivia hugged her best friend as she tried to calm herself down.

"You think so?" Olivia questioned.

"Yes," Jessica nodded. "Trust me, Olivia."

"Thank you," Olivia whispered.

"Anytime," Jessica responded.

They held each other in silence for a while until Olivia suddenly pulled back.

"Oh my God!" Olivia shouted happily while wiping at her wet cheeks. "I forgot to tell you something, Jess!"

"What is it?" Jessica questioned; not sure whether she should be nervous or excited.

"You're going to kill me for not telling you earlier," Olivia said.

"Oh my God!" Jessica exclaimed happily. "This is something fantastic, isn't it?"

Olivia nodded violently as she beamed.

"Tell me now, Liv!" Jessica demanded. "I promise I won't kill you."

"You remember me telling you about the romantic comedy film I just signed up to star in, right?" Olivia asked, smiling.

"_Falling In_?" Jessica questioned.

"Mm hmm," Olivia giggled.

"Yes, I remember," Jessica smiled.

"You'll never believe who they have cast to play my love interest!" Olivia smiled.

They both sat staring at each other for a moment and tried to communicate through eye contact.

"No," Jessica said slowly as her smile faded.

"Yes," Olivia giggled.

"_No_," Jessica repeated and let her mouth hang open in shock.

"Yes!" Olivia laughed as she bounced up and down in her seat.

"You're working with…?" Jessica started to question slowly but stopped herself to take a deep breath.

"I'm working with Justin Timberlake!" Olivia shouted.

"You're working with Justin Timberlake," Jessica quietly repeated in shock.

"I am," Olivia giggled.

"You're working with _Justin Timberlake_!" Jessica shouted as she broke into a fit of giggles.

The two friends hugged excitedly as Jessica started crying out of happiness.

"Oh my God! Liv!" Jessica exclaimed as she pushed Olivia away. "You're going to _kiss _Justin Timberlake?"

"Yes!" Olivia smiled widely.

Jessica squealed loudly as she jumped out of the couch.

"We have to give thanks to the higher power!" Jessica exclaimed. "To the shrine!"

Jessica attempted to help Olivia up from the couch, but gave up and pushed her back into her seat in a friendly manner.

"Forget it, my darling cripple!" Jessica explained. "I'll chant for you."

Jessica rushed across the living room and opened a cabinet filled with pictures of Justin Timberlake. She sat down on her knees and bowed down in front of it.

"I'm thinking that this will be one of the many things I'll try to avoid telling Justin," Olivia stated.

"Good idea, Liv," Jessica agreed before she jokingly started to chant, "He's bringin' sexy back. Them other boys don't know how to act. He thinks it's special…"

Olivia threw her head back laughing and for the rest of the night she would not think about Seth or Jacob again.


	7. Chapter 7

For as long as Olivia could remember, she had been very fond of walking. Not only as a form of transportation and exercise, but also as a way to sort out her thoughts. It didn't matter if she walked along the bustling streets of New York City, strolled between the rows of grape vines at her grandparents' vineyard in Provence, or hiked along a trail in the mountains; it _almost never_ failed to calm her down.

On this particular day Olivia had been joined by her friend Andrew Parker for a walk on one of the many hiking trails of Minnesota. Andrew was a good friend whom Olivia had gone to theatre school with in England during her childhood. Andrew had recently relocated to the United States after a breakthrough role in an internationally successful film had made him one of the most sought-after young actors in Hollywood.

"How's your ankle feeling?" Andrew questioned after walking most of the trail in complete silence.

"It's starting to feel much better," Olivia replied, "Thank you."

They continued their hike in silence until they reached the highest point of the trail.

"Do you reckon we should sit down to catch our breaths before going back?" Olivia asked and pointed towards a wooden bench.

"Yeah, that'd be good," he answered and removed his backpack to retrieve their water bottles out of it.

Olivia and Andrew were currently halfway through the filming of the independent film _Blunted Emotions_, and had decided to use this day off to get some time away from everybody else.

"Here you go," Andrew stated as he handed Olivia a water bottle.

"Thanks," Olivia smiled before leaning back against the backrest while opening the bottle.

"Minnesota is absolutely _stunning_!" Andrew exclaimed as he wiped some sweat from his forehead.

"Mm hmm," she nodded before swallowing the water she still had in her mouth. "How are you, Andrew?"

"I'm good," Andrew faked a smile and took a sip of water.

Olivia smiled softly as she watched as her brown-haired friend tried to act cool.

"'Good', huh?" she teased.

"Yep," he replied without turning to look at Olivia.

"There's nothing that's bothering you at all?" she inquired with a smile.

"Nope! Nothing at all," Andrew stated before glancing towards Olivia who raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "Fine! This whole 'fame thing' is driving me _crazy_!"

Olivia giggled as she tried to comfort Andrew by rubbing her hand on his back as he put his head in his hands.

"How do you do this, Olivia?!" he continued. "Whenever you've told me what it's been like for you over here, I just never imagined that it was actually _that_ terrifying. But it is! And it's driving me bonkers, Olivia! Absolutely _bonkers_!"

"I know that it's awful," she replied calmly, "But everything will work out just fine. You'll get through this and get used to it just like I've had to do."

"Yes, I know," Andrew said quietly.

"You do?" Olivia questioned; surprised at how quickly he managed to calm himself down.

"Yes. And do you know why I know?" Andrew spoke as he sat back up to look at Olivia.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I've got you as a friend," he smirked.

"Oooh!" Olivia groaned as she scrunched her face up. "That's such a cheesy thing to say!"

"I know," Andrew chuckled and playfully patted Olivia's knee. "You look _very _unattractive when you do that with your face, by the way."

"Hey!" she exclaimed as she pretended to have been hurt by the comment.

Olivia giggled as she lightly shoved Andrew's shoulder with one of her hands. They both returned to admiring the view in silence while resting their tired feet and legs.

"Hey, Andrew?" Olivia said cautiously without removing her gaze from the view in front of them.

"Yeah?" he replied while doing the same.

"Do you know who Seth MacFarlane is?" she questioned.

"Olivia," Andrew smirked as he looked at her, "I'm a 24-year-old guy. Of course I know who Seth MacFarlane is."

"What do you mean, 'Of course I know…'?" Olivia asked, slightly annoyed. "There's no way that every 24-year-old guy knows who Seth MacFarlane is!"

"Every 24-year-old guy _should_ know who he is, because that guy is super talented, he's super rich and even I find him sexy. And I'm a totally heterosexual guy," he explained.

"Are you absolutely sure about that last part?" she mocked in response.

"Ugh!" Andrew rolled his eyes. "If that man can't get whichever woman he could possibly want in the world, then I don't know who could. He's like my _God_, Olivia!"

"_Whatever_, Andrew!" she sighed. "Let's just forget about it."

"Just tell me what it was that you wanted to say about him, Olivia," he demanded.

"There was nothing. I just wanted to know if you knew who he was," Olivia lied.

"Yeah, right," Andrew snorted.

Andrew sat quietly as he waited for Olivia, to grow uncomfortable enough with the silence, to tell him what was actually on her mind.

"I did something stupid," Olivia admitted as she tightly squeezed her eyes together to avoid Andrew's gaze.

Andrew didn't say anything as he studied Olivia carefully.

"I _may_ have kissed him," she sighed.

"You _may_kissed him?" he questioned, "Are you not sure if you did or not?"

"Of course I'm sure if I kissed him or not!" Olivia groaned as she furiously glared at Andrew.

"So which one is it?" Andrew countered with a slightly raised voice.

"I did," she admitted shyly.

"Alright!" he exclaimed happily and raised his hand in an attempt to give Olivia a high five.

"Andrew!" Olivia whined. "Can't you see what a mess I've put myself in?"

"Gosh, Olivia," Andrew replied as he rolled his eyes and lowered his hand. "What's the big deal?"

"'_The big deal'_?" she suddenly yelled. "I have a boyfriend! That's 'the big deal'."

"Calm down," he soothed and took a deep breath as he thought about the subject for a moment. "Does Jacob even know?"

Olivia shook her head.

"When did it happen?" he inquired.

"It was the night of Just Jared's birthday party. So… about a month ago," Olivia admitted shamefully.

"A _month_ ago?!" Andrew chuckled. "Then just drop it, Olivia! It's too late to tell Jacob now and if it's been this long without him finding out, I doubt he ever will from somebody else!"

"I wish I could 'drop it', but for some reason I can't. It doesn't matter how I hard I try; it's constantly there in the back of my mind… Nagging me!" she retorted.

"Olivia, it was _one _kiss!" he replied.

Andrew's smile faded briefly as Olivia ignored his statement.

"Oh!" Andrew laughed slightly mockingly. "It was more than one kiss, wasn't it?"

Olivia nodded and closed her eyes again as she began to blush.

"You kissed Seth MacFarlane more than once at Just Jared's party?" he smiled.

"Well, not really," Olivia hesitantly admitted. "The first kiss was technically in his car, outside of my house. And well, the second was…"

"Go on, then!" Andrew instructed.

"The second was at my house two days later," she stated and glanced at Andrew.

"You didn't sleep with him, did you?" he questioned.

"No! Of course not!" she exclaimed. "I'm not a _whore_!"

"If you say so," Andrew teased.

"Andrew!" Olivia whined.

"So, what happened then?" he questioned.

"Uh… We just stopped kissing and then…" Olivia hesitated.

"And then…?" Andrew pressed on.

"And then…" she sighed, "And then Jacob walked into the room."

"Jake was _in the house_?" he shouted with an amused look on his face.

"Yes," she groaned as she furrowed her eyebrows together and blushed.

"Oh! You're a_ bad_ girl, Ms. Bellamy!" Andrew laughed.

"It's not funny, Andrew!" Olivia whined.

"It _is_ though," he replied.

"Ugh! Let's just forget that I ever told you this, okay?" she suggested.

"I'm sorry, Olivia," Andrew spoke genuinely. "I'm sorry."

"I feel _awful_," Olivia stated quietly.

"I know you do," he replied and put his arm around her shoulders. "But you shouldn't. I know that he's told you that he hasn't cheated on you with that blond bimbo and he might be telling the truth. But he's done this to you before."

"He's not that bad," she sniffled.

"Look, I like Jake. You know I do. But he has never deserved you," Andrew stated truthfully. "I know that it isn't a nice thing to say, but it is what I believe."

"Jacob has never wanted me," Olivia said sadly as she looked down at the ground in front of her; trying to hold back her tears.

"Then you shouldn't be with him!" he replied. "You should be with someone who _wants_ to be with you. You should be with somebody who _wants_ nothing more than to be the one who gets to make you _happy_."

"I'll be alone forever!" she whined. "Nobody will ever truly want me!"

"Nonsense, Olivia," Andrew protested before jokingly adding. "If I didn't like you this much as a friend, I'd marry you this very minute! I mean, we could still give it a try if you really wanted to. But it certainly doesn't help that we don't find each other sexually attractive at all."

Olivia giggled as she rolled her eyes in response and briefly hugged Andrew before sitting back up.

"Seriously though, if you stay with Jacob he could very well block your sight when the man you're destined to be with walks into your life. The_ love of your life_ could appear in front of you, any day now," he stated. "Maybe that man has arrived already."

"What do you mean?" Olivia asked cautiously as she looked at Andrew.

"Maybe…" he hesitated. "Who knows, Olivia? Maybe Seth is _the one _you're supposed to be with. He seems to have gotten under your skin."

"Oh, no!" she shook her head profusely. "He's _not_ the one."

"How do you know?" Andrew asked curiously.

"Because…" Olivia smiled as she tried to hide her pain. "He's just like Jacob."

"In what way?" he inquired.

"Seth doesn't want me either," she stated as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"You don't know that," Andrew retorted.

"Yes, I do," Olivia nodded as she wiped her cheeks.

"How?" he questioned.

"He told me so," she cried.

"Well, then he's a fool!" Andrew breathed as he pulled Olivia back into a hug.


	8. Chapter 8

Following a grueling day of working overtime on the set of _Blunted Emotions_, Olivia had cuddled up on the bed in her hotel room with a book. Olivia was exhausted and struggled to keep her eyes open. She was startled by a loud knock on the door that caused her to jump out of the bed.

"Happy birthday!" Jacob smiled as she opened the door.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned happily as he pulled her into a hug.

Olivia was caught by surprise as she had spoken to Jacob on the phone just a few hours earlier. He had apologized repeatedly for not being there to celebrate her birthday.

"I wanted to be with my baby on her birthday," he chuckled.

Jacob shut the door behind him and twisted Olivia around to push her against the door. Jacob feverishly kissed Olivia as she wrapped her arms around his neck. They both moaned as Jacob placed his hands on Olivia's breasts. For the first time in quite a while, Olivia was _genuinely_ excited to see him.

"When did you get here?" Olivia questioned.

"A few hours ago," Jacob replied and placed his arms around Olivia's back.

"Why didn't you come to me sooner?" she asked.

"They told me you had been working late, so I thought I'd give you some time to rest before we'd go out," he explained with a smile on his face.

"We're going out?" she replied as she furrowed her eyebrows together.

"Yes," he smiled and leaned in to kiss Olivia again.

Olivia willingly kissed him back.

"Let's go out and get a drink to celebrate," Jacob suggested as he tore his mouth away from Olivia's.

"I'd love to, but I'm too tired to get myself ready to go out," she complained.

"You already look pretty, babe," he replied.

"But I can't go out to a bar, to celebrate my birthday, looking like this," Olivia stated as she motioned down towards her clothes.

"Baby, you look fine. I'd proudly take you out for a drink when you look like that. You look perfect," Jacob smiled truthfully. "But you could always just change into some other clothes if that would make you feel more comfortable."

Jacob walked over Olivia's suitcase that was laid open on the floor. He pulled out a random dress and smiled widely as he tossed it to Olivia across the room.

"_Please_, let me take you out," he begged while pouting and batting his eyelashes comically.

"Fine," Olivia groaned. "But I want to brush my teeth first."

"I'll be waiting," Jacob called as Olivia shut the bathroom door behind her.

Olivia brushed her teeth thoroughly as she considered the situation she was now in. A few days earlier she had made the decision to break up with Jacob. But now that he was here, Olivia was no longer sure if she wanted to. Olivia removed the clothes she was wearing and slipped on her dress.

"Wow," Jacob breathed as Olivia walked out of the bathroom. "You look incredible!"

"Thank you," Olivia giggled as she slipped on a pair of high heels.

Jacob smiled as he sat on the bed and watched her get ready.

"Now, where are you taking me?" she questioned excitedly.

"Well, I've heard of this cute, little place downtown that I thought we could take a look at," he replied.

"Perfect," Olivia smiled as she put on her coat.

"Are you ready?" Jacob questioned as he stood up.

"Yes," she nodded. "Let's go!"

Jacob walked up to her and put his arm around her waist. He kissed her on the cheek before he led her out of the room, down to the lobby and towards a waiting car that was parked outside of the hotel entrance. During the relatively short ride to the bar downtown the couple made use of their time by catching up.

"This _does _look cute," Olivia stated as they had stepped out of the car and looked at the entrance.

"I knew you'd like it," Jacob smiled.

Olivia giggled lightly as Jacob took her hand and guided her into the bar.

"SURPRISE!"

Olivia shrieked in astonishment as the lights were turned on to reveal a rather large group of her friends and colleagues.

"Oh, God!" she exclaimed. "You almost made me pee myself!"

The group laughed happily and applauded.

"It's all Jake's fault!" shouted one of the guests.

"You did this?" Olivia questioned as she looked at Jacob.

Jacob blushed as he nodded slightly.

"Oh!" she breathed and kissed his cheek as she pulled him into a hug. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied before kissing her lips. "Happy birthday!"

Olivia smiled as she stroked his cheek with her right hand before briefly kissing his lips again.

"Let's have a party!" Nicholas shouted gleefully.

The group cheered and dispersed into the room. Some of the guests went to greet Olivia while others greeted each other or got themselves drinks and snacks. Olivia was particularly happy to see Claire Danes.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you for being here!" Olivia smiled as she hugged Claire tightly.

"I've never missed your birthday since we've known each other and I'm not about to start now," Claire giggled.

During the night Olivia mingled with the guests and happily thanked them all for being there. She eventually reached the corner of the bar where Andrew sat himself, looking anything but pleased.

"I can't believe how quickly these weeks have gone by. I'm going to miss you so much when you leave tomorrow," Olivia whined as she sat down next to him.

"I'll miss you too," Andrew replied without looking at her.

"Are you alright?" she asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered truthfully. "Are you?"

"I'm good," she smiled.

"Are you sure?" he questioned coldly.

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows together and lightly shook her head while trying to figure out what was going on.

"Wha-?" she began to question.

"Did you smack your head?" he glared.

Olivia, whose mouth had remained open when Andrew had interrupted her, loudly breathed out as she looked away from him. Olivia almost chuckled in disbelief when she understood what Andrew was upset about.

"Why are you doing this to yourself, Olivia?" Andrew questioned disparagingly. "He doesn't deserve you!"

"Who do you think you are?" Olivia bit back. "Since when are you the person that gets to decide what I do and don't deserve?"

"I'm your friend!" he replied. "I only want what's best for you! I want you to be happy!"

"Maybe Jacob makes me happy," she suggested nonchalantly.

"But you could be so much happier with somebody else," Andrew stated.

"You don't know that!" Olivia stated bitterly.

"Yes, I do!" he stated. "Just yesterday you told me that you didn't want to be with him and now you're pretending to love him because he threw you a surprise party! Don't you see how pathetic you are?"

Olivia didn't know to say in response, so she just glared at Andrew while shaking her head in disbelief.

"Jacob treats you poorly," he continued. "You've never been in love with him. You've never even _needed_ him!"

"You're right," Olivia agreed as she lowered her voice. "I don't _need_ him. I don't need _anybody_. I can take care of myself!"

"I know you can, Olivia," he said calmly. "But needing a person you love is something wonderful. It isn't a sign of weakness. There's something beautiful in loving someone so much that you crave for them when they're not around."

Olivia looked down as she blinked back the tears that were forming in her eyes. She knew Andrew was right, but his argument had only made her refusal to break up with Jacob much more intense.

"I think you should go now, Andrew," she breathed without looking at him.

"Yes, I think I should," he agreed coldly. "Call me when he breaks your heart."

As soon as Andrew got up out of his seat and began to walk away Olivia regretted her decision to ask him to leave.

"Andrew!" she desperately called after him.

Andrew's only response was a slight wave of his hand without turning around to look at Olivia.


	9. Chapter 9

The crowd cheered and applauded as Norah Jones finished playing one of her songs. Olivia sighed as she looked around the concert venue and was overcome with feeling of homesickness.

"Ugh!" Olivia groaned. "Why did I ever leave New York?"

"To become a _star_!" Jessica answered dramatically before giggling drunkenly.

"I should have stayed in New York," Olivia whined.

"Hey!" Jacob exclaimed as he placed his hands on Olivia's shoulders. "If you would've stayed in New York, maybe we would never have met each other."

"That's true," Olivia smiled as she contently leaned her back against Jacob's chest.

"Mm hmm," Jacob nodded as he gently kissed Olivia's left ear causing her to giggle.

"Ugh!" Jessica groaned at the couple's display of affection.

"Maybe New York wouldn't have been that bad after all, huh, Jessica?" Robert Clark teased as a he nudged her shoulder.

Olivia's giggles intensified as Jacob chuckled while kissing her cheek.

"You don't have to be jealous, Jess," Jonathan Howard offered as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "You've got me!"

"Step back, Casanova!" Jessica hissed as she pushed Jonathan away from her.

Olivia sighed as Jacob wrapped his arms around her and she placed her hands on his. She smiled as he began to rock them from side to side in time to the music that Norah and her band were now playing.

After Olivia had made the decision that she actually wanted to be with Jacob, she was happier than ever before with their relationship. She figured that it would have been a waste of time to have been with him for so long, only to throw it away over a man who wasn't even interested in her.

"We should probably get going if we want to catch that flight," Robert stated as he looked at the watch on his wrist.

"Oh, I've got to hand the camera back to Jocelyn," Jacob spoke as his arms left Olivia. "I'll meet you guys outside."

"I'll come with you," Jonathan offered.

"Okay," Jacob nodded as they began their search for Jacob's aunt Jocelyn in the crowd.

"Let's go, ladies," Robert stated as he began to move.

Jessica held onto the back of Robert's shirt with her left hand as he guided them through the crowd. Her right hand was gripped tightly around Olivia's who walked closely behind her.

"Isn't it rude to the people who couldn't get tickets that we're leaving before the concert is even over?" Olivia questioned lightheartedly.

"_Who cares_?!" Jessica replied snobbishly. "If they wanted to be here so badly then they should have worked harder for it!"

Olivia smiled lightly as she rolled her eyes at Jessica behind her back.

"I can finally _breathe_ again!" Jessica exclaimed as they neared the back of the room and the crowd began to disperse.

Olivia's giggles were interrupted as she quite violently bumped into Jessica causing their heads to be knocked together.

"What are you doing?" Olivia questioned, slightly annoyed.

"What am _I_ doing?" Jessica retorted, equally annoyed and shocked that she had bumped into Robert. "What is _Robert_ doing?"

Jessica stumbled as she moved to stand beside Robert as she searched for an explanation to their sudden stop. Olivia let go of Jessica's hand as she turned to look at the floor to avoid being introduced to the person that Robert seemed to be having a conversation with.

"Well, hello there, foxy millionaire," Jessica drunkenly flirted. "Or is it _billionaire_?"

"Do you know Jessica?" Robert questioned, very embarrassed at the situation he found himself in.

"No," the person replied.

The second Olivia heard him speak, her eyes widened and her stomach filled with butterflies. She would recognize that voice anywhere.

"This is Jessica Watson," Robert said as he introduced them. "Jessica, this is S-."

"Seth!" Olivia exclaimed a bit too excitedly, as she moved to the right of Jessica.

Seth's face lit up in an instant when his eyes met Olivia's. His breathing involuntarily quickened in an attempt to calm his heart that had begun to race.

"Yes," Robert agreed hesitantly. "This is Seth MacFarlane. He used to be my boss when I worked on his show."

"I know," Jessica smiled as she awkwardly batted her eyelashes at Seth.

"Olivia," Seth breathed contently.

Seth had done everything in his power to push Olivia away from his thoughts. But he had failed miserably and finally getting to speak her name again felt like heaven to him. As Seth studied Olivia's face, he wondered how it could be possible for her to look even more beautiful every time he laid his eyes upon her.

"Have the two of you met before?" Robert questioned with a confused look on his face.

"Yes," Seth replied as he looked at Robert before looking into Olivia's eyes again with a smile. "We've _met _before."

Olivia immediately looked down at the floor as she could feel her cheeks starting to burn. If only Robert knew how much she had met Seth before and how much she had enjoyed it.

Olivia closed her eyes briefly as she was suddenly overcome with anger. How could Seth sit there and smile at her? Did he even remember what had happened between them? Did he _truly_ not care, about the kisses they had shared, at all?

"Well, _I_ would like to meet you a _little better_, if you know what I mean," Jessica slurred as she tried to act sexy.

"Uh…" Seth said as he looked back at Olivia. "Uh… No, tha-."

When Olivia turned her head back up, Seth was stunned by the cold look in her angelic eyes.

"Oh, come on!" Jessica whined as she wobbled towards him. "I could make you _feel good_."

"No, thank you," Seth stated with a clear voice as he looked back at Jessica. "There's somebody else."

Olivia took a step back as she gasped for breath. She felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. Why would Seth be so cruel to admit that in front of her? Had her crying not made it clear to him that their kisses had at least meant something to _her_?

"Somebody else, huh?" Jessica smiled. "I bet that I cou-."

Jessica had to stop herself as she suddenly felt sick.

"Oh, God!" Robert exclaimed as he grabbed Jessica's arms to pull her back. "Let's get you out of here!"

Jessica nodded furiously as she put one of her hands to cover her mouth as she feared that she would throw up at any second.

"Olivia, you'll wait here so that the guys will find us!" Robert instructed as he hurried Jessica away.

"But I ca-!" Olivia tried to protest.

"Come and find us the minute they've found you! We're in a _hurry_!" Robert stated.

"But I cou-!" Olivia tried to protest again.

"Enjoy the concert some more! You were the one that wanted to go!" Robert called as he disappeared from view.

Olivia sighed despondently as she shifted uncomfortably where she stood.

"Olivia, I ne-," Seth spoke gently as he desperately sought her eyes' attention.

"You don-," Olivia shook her head as she looked away from him.

"There you are, baby!" Jacob called as he walked up and placed his left arm around Olivia's back.

"We're ready to go now," Jonathan smiled.

"MacFarlane!" Jacob exclaimed with smile as he stepped forward slightly to shake Seth's hand.

"Jake," Seth replied politely, though without the same excitement to see him.

"Seth, how are you?" Jonathan smiled as he shook Seth's hand.

"Good," Seth replied. "How are you, Jonathan?"

"I'm great," Jonathan smiled.

"Good. Good," Seth stated, though he had never had any real interest in the response as he had returned to seeking Olivia's attention as discreetly as he possibly could.

It didn't go unnoticed however as Jacob looked back and forth between Seth and Olivia for a few moments. Why was she ignoring him? Why was he so desperately seeking her attention?

"I'm sorry, MacFarlane," Jacob stated. "We're in a bit of a rush, you see."

Seth nodded without taking his eyes of Olivia.

"Take care," Jonathan smiled to Seth as he began to walk away.

"You too," Seth replied genuinely.

Olivia met Seth's eyes as she passed him on her way out. Seth's mouth hung open as he repeatedly tried, without success, to find something to say that would keep her with him.

"Bye," Jacob said as they left the room.

Seth simply nodded his head as he sunk back into his seat.


End file.
